Khariar

The town of Khariar is believed to be a feudal seat founded by Vishwanath Dev Gajapati of the solar dynasty. According to the Fifth Report on the Affairs of the Company, Vishwanath Dev built up an empire that stretched from the confines of Bengal in North to river Godavari in South up to Telangana. He built a new capital called Rayagada in order to effectively consolidate his position in all four directions of the domain. The report also mentions that innumerable feudatories payed service to the royal seat of Vishwanath who then adopted the title of 'Gajapati' to prove his dominance in the region.[1]

However, the Qutb Shahi Sultans of Golconda attacked the kingdom of Suryavanshis following the death of Vishwanath. His son Balaram Dev fought courageously but lost the battle to Ibrahim Qutb Shah and became a vassal state.[2] In 1600, Chauhan dynasty took charge of Khariar and Raja Gopal Rai who belonged to the Chauhan family of Balangir was crowned as the first king.

In 1711, Jeypore suffered a grievous betrayal when its feudal seat of Vizianagaram joined hands with the French and instructed the feudal seats of Khariar along with Kalahandi and Bindra-Nowagarh to rebelliously join the Maratha forces and clinch independence from the Jeypore kingdom. This led to the formation of the Khariar zamindari that stayed until its dissolution in 1952.[2]

Khariar Friday/Sukrabar Bazaar

Khariar Old Daily Market

Nuapada district is located in western part of odisha in India and Khariar is located in the heart of Nuapada district. It comes under a rain shadow belt . Khariar is the one of the major towns in Nuapada district. It is the main business centre in the locality. It has a daily market and a weekly bazaar takes place every Friday. Most people of Khariar are middle-class, which includes government employees, small shopkeepers, businessmen etc. A shopping complex in Khariar i,e Mahavir Fashion,SG Fashion,Madhur Bazaar,Sree Collection,Saraf Store,K-Lounge,Pieter England etc.

Khariar Town is located at 20.28°N 82.77°E / 20.28; 82.77.[3] It has an average elevation of 226 m (741 ft). It is located in the Western part of Odisha, close to the border of Raipur District Chhattisgarh State. It belongs to the Mahanadi basin the Eastern Ghats where mountains are interspersed with wide valleys. The elevation is about 200 meters. The climate is tropical with the rainfall is due to the South West monsoon, There are few government and private schools and colleges in the region. Odia is the official language of the people. Furthermore, the region is well connected with roads to many town and also railways to other part of the state. The nearest airport located is Raipur in Chhattisgarh and nearest railway station located at Kantabanjhi which is 35 km Away from Khariar City.[4]

As of 2011 India census Khariar had a population of 15,087. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Khariar has an average literacy rate of 62%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 72%, and female literacy is 52%. In Khariar, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Khariar mahotsav

Khariar is a major transportation hub in Nuapada District as people from the three blocks namely Boden, Sinapali and Khariar depend upon the mode of transportation available in Khariar. Though Khariar is not connected by rail, it is well connected by roads. The major roads passing through Khariar are NH353(Khariar-Raipur), NH59(Khariar-Gopalpur),SH16(Khariar-Sambalpur) and SH44(Khariar-Bhawanipatna). The nearest rail head is Kantabanji, which is situated 35 km from Khariar. Another nearest railway station is Titlagarh (which is also the hottest place in India). The nearest airport is Raipur Airport situated 195 km from Khariar.

Nearby Town

1. Boden28 Km
2. Komna 25 km
3. Sinapali 30 km
4. Kantabanjhi 35 km
5. Titlagarh 50 km
6. Nuapada 70 km
7. Balangir 112 km
8. Bhawanipatna 70 km
9. Raipur 190 km
10. New Raipur 140 km
11. Khariar Road 78 km
12. Sambalpur 240 km
13. Bhubaneswar 430 km
14. Kolkata 838 km
15. Brahampur 338 km

There are several religious places of different religion in Khariar, this indicates a diversity in religion, culture in Khariar. Some of the temples located in Khariar are:-

• Maa Samaleswari Temple, near Azad Chowk
• Raktambari mandir, near Azad Chowk
• Hanuman Mandir, near Azad Chowk
• Hanuman Mandir, Puruna Bustand
• Dadhibamana Mandir, Badgudipada
• Jagannath Temple
• Ram Mandir
• Hanuman Mandir, irrigation colony
• Koshaleswar Temple, irrigation colony
• Ganesh mandir, irrigation colony
• Bhubaneswari mandir, irrigation colony
• Shiva Temple, Duajhar
• Maa Santoshi Mandir, Junen
• Radha Krishna Mandir, junen
• Siva mandir, Tirbandh
• Siva mandir, muktasagar
• Gayatri Mandir, Chalanpada
• Radhakrushna madir, Damapala
• Shri Rameswara Siva Mandir, Bhaludungari
• Shiv temple, dalpada

Some of the other religious places of other communities are:

• Mukti Marg Church, Khariar
• Sunni Hanfi Jama Masjid, Khariar
• Sunni Jamat Eidgah,Khariar

• Daily Market(Fresh Market)
• Goru/Sukrabar Bazar (Weekly)
• New Daily Market(Near Old Bus Stand)
• Machh Bazaar (Old Daily Market)
• New Machh/Mansh Bazaar(Boden Chowk-Gadramunda Area)

There are several tourist spots around Khariar, including:

• Patalganga: A tourist spot located approximately 30 km from Khariar which attracts pilgrims from different parts of nuapada district as well as from neighbouring districts.[5]
• Tikhali dam: Officially known as lower indra irrigation project, this dam is located 17 km apart from Khariar.
• Rusi Pitha: Rusipitha(Risipiti) is located near Tukla
• Jogimatha-Tukla

Khariar's culture is a blend of traditional festivals, food, dance etc. Khariar has a proud cultural heritage that arose due to intermingling of different religions. The major language used is Odia, which is widely used in each and every part of Khariar region. You can talk here in Hindi Too. English is widely used for official purpose. Nuakhai is the major festival celebrated in this region. The other festivals like rathayatra, dusshera, holi, dipawali, eid, Christmas, chindaguda (Dhanujatra Mahotsav, Anchalika Sanskrutik Utsav, (Chindaguda) are also celebrated in Khariar. Khariar organises Khariar Mahotsav[6] every year, which attracts a large number of people from different places.

The activities of this town includes:- running of schools, shops or very small industries and bus communications. Other than these activities, political activities across the town is also common. In evenings it is a common sight to see youth playing at various fields (mostly at RAJA A.T. HIGH SCHOOL field, Vidya Mandir field, Bhojpur Field, College Field, and Shanti Nagar Field). In fact the veterans also participate in several fitness activities during evenings, like jogging near Canal Road, Padampur Road, Tukla Road, Nehena Road, College Road, or junen NH Road.

• By Bus - NH353 &NH59 connected to the khariar.

• By Railway :-The new Railway line survey is completed that is Kantabanji to Jeypur Via Khariar. Only waiting for Railway budget passed.

• Sri Jitamitra Singh Deo: He is the Present Raja Saheb of Khariar. He is also a poet and historian.

• Prayag Dutta Joshi: He is father of Kosli Language[7] and also called him Koshal Ratna.

• Manish Bansal: Manish Bansal is founder of a news portal "Newstrend.news".[8] In 2018, It was among the Top 10 Most visited website of India with a position of Number 10.[9]

• Sri Adhiraj Mohan Panigrahi: Member of Legislative Assembly(MLA)[10] of Khariar (Odisha Vidhan Sabha constituency)

• Dr Tara Dutt (2015). Odisha District Gazetteers: Nabarangapur (PDF). Government of Odisha. ISBN 978-81-86772-17-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)